Help me with my law school paranoia! Forum

[antonin]

So, everything should be all set at this point... relaxing and preparing for next year...
not exactly...

I once received a citation for $25. On the citation it mentions that this is "not a crime, but a violation."
This citation was dismissed. I did not mention it on my apps unless a school said include dismissed cases, like NYU does.

Sometimes school questions are along the lines of "have you ever received a citation, bla bla," include expunged cases".
Is this the type of situation that I should include it in? If schools say the word "ever" or ask you to include expunged cases, does that mean they also want you to include dismissed cases.
I think that obviously I should not include it in cases where schools just ask about crimes, like Columbia... correct?
Anyone has any better idea about this kind of situations.


Additional dilemma. In college I was placed, or was I placed (or was I just told that I am being place), on housing probation. I appealed the decision and the probation verdict was dropped. I asked my school for my disciplinary records, and they said there were none. So, was I correct to always respond "NO" to the question if I have been disciplined at an academic institution.


I apologize if I am being vague on the details, but when they occurred, they did not seem more troublesome than a parking ticket. Now, after sending my applications and having an idea of where I am going, I feel quite worried that they will pop up somewhere later.

[silver7]

I cant believe there are people this paranoid in the world

[JamMasterJ]

expunged means that the you were guilty but the sentence was served and then cleared from your record. I would assume that it should be included.

[zonto]

Listen to the man with Ted as his avatar. He clearly knows all as evidenced by his fine choice in television viewing.

[kalvano]

What was the citation for? Parking? Forget about it.

All they really want to know is if you're a serial killer or planning to fuck over clients.

[fundamentallybroken]

What was the citation for? Parking? Forget about it.

All they really want to know is if you're a serial killer or planning to fuck over clients.

Wait - that wasn't asked on any of my applications - am I screwed??

[kalvano]

What was the citation for? Parking? Forget about it.

All they really want to know is if you're a serial killer or planning to fuck over clients.

Wait - that wasn't asked on any of my applications - am I screwed??

Are you a serial killer? What a serial killer may be like -

[thecynic69]

I sort of feel like op's problem wasn't a parking ticket type thing. My sense of things is you should over, and not under report these sorts of issues. And as a general rule of thumb, if it is worth hiding, it is not the sort of thing you want to get caught hiding. Even if this little affair has been expunged, should c&f review turn up that something was expunged, and it become clear that you didn't report it, I can imagine things going poorly (although it is difficult to tell with the scant detail you provide). In short, it is almost always better to report (I guess if there is something that 100% will stop you from getting into law school, and you think there is a less than 100% chance it will come out, I guess, morality aside, it'd make sense not to report).

Then again, I'm the paranoid type.

[kalvano]

I feel very sure that any citation only worth $25 is no cause for concern at all.

[fundamentallybroken]

What was the citation for? Parking? Forget about it.

All they really want to know is if you're a serial killer or planning to fuck over clients.

Wait - that wasn't asked on any of my applications - am I screwed??

Are you a serial killer? What a serial killer may be like -

snip

Ummmmm, no. But - I have an awesome business card. It's bone.

[Moxie]

I cant believe there are people this paranoid in the world

TITCR.

In seriousness, call the schools if you have a question.

[Rock Chalk]

.

[AreJay711]

(I guess if there is something that 100% will stop you from getting into law school, and you think there is a less than 100% chance it will come out, I guess, morality aside, it'd make sense not to report).

No.

This is correct. How would you feel about paying 150K to not be able to practice law?

[firemed]

IMO, report the citation to them in an addendum.

Don't bother with housing probation... not only is there no record, you successfully fought and won, meaning it is a non-issue anyway.

[westinghouse60]

What was the citation for? Parking? Forget about it.

All they really want to know is if you're a serial killer or planning to fuck over clients.

Wait - that wasn't asked on any of my applications - am I screwed??

Are you a serial killer? What a serial killer may be like -

snip

Ummmmm, no. But - I have an awesome business card. It's bone.

Let's see Paul Allen's card.

[antonin]

I sort of feel like op's problem wasn't a parking ticket type thing. My sense of things is you should over, and not under report these sorts of issues. And as a general rule of thumb, if it is worth hiding, it is not the sort of thing you want to get caught hiding. Even if this little affair has been expunged, should c&f review turn up that something was expunged, and it become clear that you didn't report it, I can imagine things going poorly (although it is difficult to tell with the scant detail you provide). In short, it is almost always better to report (I guess if there is something that 100% will stop you from getting into law school, and you think there is a less than 100% chance it will come out, I guess, morality aside, it'd make sense not to report).

Then again, I'm the paranoid type.

This affair was not expunged, but it was dismissed. So, I was not convicted or anything along those lines. It was also not a crime, but a violation. Nothing that could ever hurt me I imagine, I just do not want to seem like an idiot who releases something about their past after being accepted. Before acceptances, it never even crossed my mind cause I thought it was too small.

When applying for a census job two years ago, it did not show on my check even though I answered that I had committed a violation in the past. But, again, when you are thinking of borrowing 150k, you are both excited and anxious, and I guess this has kind of been getting on my mind like a horrible pop song.

[antonin]

I cant believe there are people this paranoid in the world

TITCR.

In seriousness, call the schools if you have a question.

Yeah, I will probably do that. Though, I imagine that they will have some sort of standard hurried response. Even if it is something that I should not mention according to the way their question is phrased, they will still say yes sent us info. I am also on a few waitlists including my favorite school, so do want them to get a weird negative vibe about me.

[JamMasterJ]

let's put it this way. Ohio State had me disclose that I had been placed on academic probation.... In high school

[thecynic69]

(I guess if there is something that 100% will stop you from getting into law school, and you think there is a less than 100% chance it will come out, I guess, morality aside, it'd make sense not to report).

No.

This is correct. How would you feel about paying 150K to not be able to practice law?

Not sure what I was thinking =X. I might have mixed up phrasings and meant to say "and it 100% won't come out"--but in any event, what I ended up saying was quite stupid.

General point of view: Just report stuff. Law school's generally don't hold silly things against you, and big things are very likely to come out c&f time.

In op's case, it sounds like he never actually did anything wrong--charged but not convicted sort of thing. If that's the case, there's nothing to report, right? I don't think anyone will care that you were once thought guilty of some rule violation, but later proved innocent (this seems to be what happened...)

ETA: the over rather than under report rule has its limits. past a certain point, you can just look silly, and like you can't follow directions, which is never good for the purpose of law school admissions (?it sounds like op wanted to divulge this after he got accepted?, so I guess this is just meant as a general comment)

[random5483]

Be safe and disclose it.

I had two addendums for some school. One because I got two traffic tickets (one when I was 17!) and another because I was placed on academic probabtion once.

The school's don't hold it against you unless you had a serious violation (maybe DUI or something worse...though I don't know). However, if you don't disclose something you should have, the school can kick you out or worse yet you will fail the character and fitness test and be unable to take the bar (non-disclosure if worse than the actual violation).

[CanadianWolf]

"expunged" does not mean that one was guilty. It simply means that an existing record--such as an arrest--has been removed (technically it means "wiped out"). Many arrests as well as many charges do not result in a conviction.

[firemed]

Be safe and disclose it.

I had two addendums for some school. One because I got two traffic tickets (one when I was 17!) and another because I was placed on academic probabtion once.

The school's don't hold it against you unless you had a serious violation (maybe DUI or something worse...though I don't know). However, if you don't disclose something you should have, the school can kick you out or worse yet you will fail the character and fitness test and be unable to take the bar (non-disclosure if worse than the actual violation).

Whatever! I had 2 moving violations, 12 other tickets, a civil action, an investigation, and a dropped out of school addenda to write. That was a bunch! And they didn't care. Except maybe W&L. They seemed to care.